Lauryn Hill Blogs About Racism Before Beginning Prison Term

Lauryn Hill leaves court after a sentencing on federal tax evasion charges in Newark in May.

Grammy-winning singer and rapper Lauryn Hill began her three-month stint in prison on Monday. According to the Associated Press, Hill reported to a minimum security federal prison in Danbury, Conn. In May, the Fugees member was sentenced to three months in prison and an additional three months in home confinement with electronic monitoring for failing to file tax returns for five years on $2.3 million in income. A rep for Hill did not immediately return a request for comment. Before sentencing, the 38-year-old Hill, who pleaded guilty to failing to pay taxes, paid her tax bill. Six days before beginning her jail term, a message about racism was posted on her blog. The note read: “On Racism could not be a judgment of all white people, unless all white people suffer from the same pathological condition. This is a discussion of that particular pathology* and the institutional violence that it bore, still in existence today. To suggest that the progress of a few means that the institution is fixed, is unrealistic. And I am by no means insinuating that black people are the only victims of oppression. But my experiences are my experiences, and so I speak about what I know.” She continued, “If you have experiences of oppression, and need the catharsis, talk about them, write them down, express them, exorcise them. Don’t dare tell me, however, that I don’t have a right to speak my mind, or presume to know my story in totality, because you watched a few videos or read a couple of articles.” You can read the full blog here. There was no mention of her coming prison term.